News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-02-10
WHERE 1T Is COOLEST.
Lieutsnant Scheutzc Tells How People
Exist Who're the Thermometer Is so De-
Grees Below ZerO-SiberinD Exiiess

navy, who was sent to Lena Delta IN
Northwestern Siberia to deliver to the
natives gifts from the government OF the
United States to repay them for the AID
they rendered him in his search for the
missing members of the Jeanette party
says in his report that the town OF
Eeroyansk, Siber a. is the coolest In.
habited spot in the world. The Their
mOmeter stood at SO below zero when
he was there, and he says it seldom
goes above so below. l asked him the
other dav what the people did who
lived at this blissful spot, what they had
to eat, and how they liked 1t.
Why" he replied, they think it is
pretty good sort of climate. Home,
Sweet Home, is the song all the world
over, and if the Veroyanskers should
come here they would wonder what
people did where it is so internally hot
They would smother in this climate, and
pine for a stiff northwesterly Arctic
gale. 1t is wonderful the amount of
cold human flesh can endure. The
natives of TERRA del Fuego go stark
naked the year round, and in their
country it freezes every night. 1t is
much colder in the Lena Delta yet the
people manage to keep comfortable, and
more die of smallpox and scurvy than
from the effects of the intense cold. You
seldom hear of any one freezing to
death and then it is those only who ex-
pose themselves imprudently who die in
that way. More people are frozen to
death in the United States than in ST.
IBERIA"
But how do they manage to keep
warm2"
''Well, in the sss- place the Yakuts
are an enduring race, and are born in
that climate. Then they dress in furs
and have learned from their ancestors
or from their own experience how to
keep warm. Their houses are built of
logs, smeared over On the outside and
inside with manure and mud. In each
cabin is a large fireplace, which is used
for both heating and cooking. There is
seldom more than one room in these
cabins, and usually the owners cattle
if he has any, occupy one end of the
room in which he lives, being tied or
prevented from tIampling on the babies
by bar The houses are commonly
very comfortable, but are awfully dirty,
duu SLlCII--tLlCIC 10 ~ w OlO " NCSIlADC
it. Often, until got used to it, would
rather lie down in the snow outside,
with the thermometer so below zero,
than sleep in one of these huts But you
have no idea what man can stand when
he has to-"
"Have they windows in their housesl"
Yes, ice windows. They use ice as
we use glass. A clear piece is selected,
about five or six inches thick, mortised
in the window opening in blocks two
feet, and sometimes as large as four feet
square, aud with water is made solid
The water is as good as putty. When
the window becomes dirty they scrape
it off with knife, and when it has been
scraped tn n they substitute a new
pane"
doesn't the window ever melt?"
'BIess you, no; it is freezing cold that
for from the fire. If the room ever get
warm enough to melt the ice the Yakut
couldn't live in it, and would have to
60 out doors to cool off. At night the
fire is allowed to go out as they have to
economic in fuel. All they have is
driftwood, gat cred on the banks of the
Lena River in the summer time"
Chow do they sleep2 Do they I'M
dress when they go to bed?'
always. They strip to their shirts,
which are made of a thick sort of Rus
sian cloth as heavy as our canvas. The
men and women wear the same kind of
garments, and never have more than one
At time. took up lot of thick
flannel for them, ough to last the rest
III Ia
more comfortable than the native stuff,
although they don't like it at first.
When they undress they get into hunks
built in the side of the house-some-
times man, his wife and all his chill
1ren IN the same bnsk. They have rein
deer skins under and over them, and
curtains of the same hanging before the
hunks. The last man or woman to un-
dress hangs all the clothing of the rest
over pole that is kept for the
purpose"
"What is that for2'
TO freeze the lice. They couldn't
i've if they didn't do it, and it has G.
come a national custom. The lice get
into the fur, and that is the only way
to get them out. By hanging their
clothes over the pole every night they
san keep reasonably free from them
but the fur fills up again the next day"
"Do they ever bathe2"
"Never in their lives; they haven't
any word for bathing in their language,
md the impossibility of keeping clean
s one of the greatest hardships of Arc
ic life"
''What do they eat2"
"Reindeer meat, beef-they have
COWS, queer looking animals, about half
IS large as ours, with hummoCk on
heir backs like a camel-Esh, bread
made of rye flour, tea. and an imported
'ood made of chopped beef rolled into
pals about the size of q marble, and
covered with a dough. These they
pound up and make into soup. Then
here is a wood that is very nutritious
when it is ground up and boiled Mixed
With reindeer meat it makes a good
Oup. They often eat their fish raw.
If course they freeze solid as soon as
hey are taken out of the water, and the
,uts them off in shavings, as thin as our
clipped beef, and eats them raw. They
ire palatable, and have lived for days
It time on them, with cup of tea
made over an alcohol lamp by way of
'ariety. The greatest luxury they have
S butter, and they will eat it by the
pound as our people eat confectionery.
poor sort of butter is made from the
milk of the native COW. that looks and
astes more like cheese, and they prize
t above all other classes of food.
The amount of butter native will
at when he can get it," continued
Lieutenant SCheutZe, sis astonishing.
friend of mine in Siberia told me of a
nan who ate thirty-s pounds in one
lay, and then didn't get all he wanted.
hey have way of pounding up a red
Jerry and mixing it with butter, which
ives it a beautifssstl-1s=-iqslc tint and i'm.
,roves the flavor. Their drink is the
Russian Vodka, almost pure alcohol,
nd they will trade their shirts for it.
The liquor is scarce and expensive, so
hey are necessarily a temperate peo
de"
Glow do the political exiles live, and
10 y many are in the countrYW
A great manv-several in every set
lement. When an exile is sent into the |
ountry the government decides where |
&c shall reside, and requi;es him to re-
'Ort his whereabouts at frequent inter |
ais. They live as the natives do, re-
Give SO much gear from the Govern |
lent for their support, and work at their |
rades if they have them, and if they |
aven't get such j"bs as they can. In |
Their provinces the exlles work in the |
lines At Vroyansk / saw an exile. |